Anyone think the crowd calendars are not so accurate lately ?

[maryj11]

We were at MK this past week on Wednesday and it was predicted as a 7 on one crowd calendar and a 5 on another. To me it was more of a 9 or 10. I know the Mine Train opened that day, so that may have something to do with it but I have never seen so many people in MK before. Only about 11:30 pm did crowds start to thin out. We did get to ride the Mine Train and really liked it, also rode our favorites thanks to fastpass +. We also had some pixie dust thrown on us when a guy the night before gave us a fastpasses for BTMR and Splash So we were pretty much set with being able to ride everything we wanted. If we didnt have fastpass I dont think we would of rode very many rides because of the standby wait times.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I just checked the wait times for MK through May and don't see anything out of the ordinary for wednesday, May 28.

Easy WDW had it a 7 and this looks like 7 wait times to me.

http://t.co/s10NuCbGIz

 

[fla4fun]

I would expect some slight variances in the MK predictions with A&E and 7DMT both operational, because a part of the prediction process is using historical data, and right now they are comparing oranges and apples. I would give it maybe a month, and they should be able to tighten up the predictions. I think their "park of the day" recommendations should remain fairly consistent.

Also, WDW is just plain busier than it has been the past few years, and MK is always the busiest of the four parks. I will be spending a lot of time there on my trip later this month, and I've already packed my patience in the suitcase . I don't think it's reasonable to expect wait times to be low this time of year, since we are starting the summer travel season.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Early May weekends felt like Thanksgiving! Won't be doing that again, cruise or otherwise.

 

[ancestry]

We were there May 7 through May 14 and I felt the crowd predictions from EasyWDW was dead on both for the overall parks as well as the recommended park(s).

 

[kmb584]

We were there May 7 through May 14 and I felt the crowd predictions from EasyWDW was dead on both for the overall parks as well as the recommended park(s).

Agreed. We were there the same time (May 5-15) and I didn't think the crowds were anything out of the ordinary. We followed EasyWDW's suggested parks and had no issues.

 

[maryj11]

I have never been in MK with it that crowded before but we did get everything done we wanted. I usually go in Sept. Oct. and we went in he middle of Dec once so it may be because we have gone when crowds were not as high. We did go to Epcot, AK, and HS and the crowds were not that bad. It was more crowded at AK but MK was the worst.

 

[notfrostyjosh]

May 25th was a textbook 7 out of 10. easyWDW only uses 10s if there's a chance one of the parks (usually Magic Kingdom) will close to capacity. We won't see 9s for two or three weeks when South America arrives on top of schools out for summer.

If you want to see a 9, come visit me June 16th. If you want to see a 10, I'll see you on July 4th.

 

[maryj11]

May 25th was a textbook 7 out of 10. easyWDW only uses 10s if there's a chance one of the parks (usually Magic Kingdom) will close to capacity. We won't see 9s for two or three weeks when South America arrives on top of schools out for summer.

If you want to see a 9, come visit me June 16th. If you want to see a 10, I'll see you on July 4th.

No thanks to a 9 or 10 All I know is that 7 at MK this past Wednesday seemed like a 9 to me.

 

[Jdismom]

I was there on Wednesday and it did seem like an 8 or 9 to me also.

 

[Objectivity]

One thing to keep in mind is that some of the "crowd calendars" are actually wait-time calendars. They base the number on the length you'd wait for key rides.

That's why Epcot during Food and Wine can be congested with people in the world showcase but only be scored a 2 or a 3. The people are there but the line lengths are still relatively short.

 

[jaysmom4285]

Good point, Objectivity. The touring plans crowd predictors are careful to emphasize this. It isn't how crowded the park "feels," or how many people are in the walkways or how long the line is for your CS food. It's how long the posted wait times are at the attractions. And the touring plans blog regularly reviews its past week's predictions and compares them to reality, and will then try to analyze why there may have been a major difference. The vast majority of the time, they are within one level of predictions, which is pretty good. I don't know any other crowd predictor site that goes back and looks at how it actually did and will make that public, even when they may have been off. And if their predictions did substantially miss the mark, they try to analyze why - perhaps a few straight days of rain drove an exceptional number of people to MK on the next decent day, or significant ride breakdowns pushed crowds to other attractions. I like that they're open about how successful or unsuccessful they were and why.